A growing share of renewable energies will require suitable storage options in the future, because sun and wind do not supply energy at the same time. The integration of batteries of electric vehicles as flexible consumers offers great potential here. Customers should be able to benefit from lower electricity prices. However, the shift of large parts of mobility to the electricity system increases the demand on the distribution networks, so that at the same time care must be taken not to overload the local networks. In the vicinity of Volkswagen’s Zwickau site, Elli and MITNETZ STROM will be demonstrating in the coming months how electromobility and the energy industry can grow together and how this challenge could be solved. In a joint pilot project, optimized charging strategies will be tested, taking into account both regional electricity generation from renewable energies and the available capacities in the distribution grid. Electric vehicles from the Volkswagen Group will be used in the process.
The project will demonstrate how time-variable, monetary incentives can be used to implement customer-friendly products for intelligent charging of electric vehicles: Regionally generated wind and solar power, which would otherwise have to be switched off until grid expansion at higher voltage levels is completed, can be used specifically to charge electric cars. At the same time, software coordinates the planned charging processes between electric vehicles and grid operators. This prevents congestions in the local grid and makes the best possible use of existing grid capacity to enable fast and customer-friendly integration of green power and electric vehicles even before their expansion is completed.
“Smart charging in our pilot application supports the energy transition in many dimensions. The use of local electricity from renewable sources is increased and the customer’s mobility needs are ensured. In the end, customers* benefit from lower electricity prices for charging their electric vehicles and reduce their individual carbon footprint,” says Dr. Niklas Schirmer, Vice President Strategy at Volkswagen Group Charging GmbH.
“In perspective, electromobility offers the potential to relieve the load on our power grid where it is particularly needed. In higher voltage levels with temporary large surpluses of renewable energies. At the same time, we are countering possible congestions in the local grid with newly developed software for the optimal allocation of grid capacities to charging processes of electric vehicles. In this way, we can ensure that even in the transitional period, until the grids are suitably expanded at all levels, the wind and photovoltaic technologies that are so important for the climate turnaround, as well as electric mobility, can be quickly integrated into the energy system,” adds Dr. Michael Lehmann, Head of Process and System Management at MITNETZ STROM.
The pilot application will be used to derive concrete recommendations for action for the further design of the legal and regulatory framework to enable efficient interaction between the power grid and electromobility in the future.
In addition, a scalable concept for secure and efficient data exchange will be developed, providing for future-proof and scalable data paths between customers with “flexibility”, suppliers and grid operators.
“The future energy world requires new intelligent data paths for data exchange between network operators and market players. We now want to try out which concepts make sense for the grid integration of e-mobility,” says Dr. Henning Schuster, Managing Director of E-Bridge Consulting, which is supporting the pilot application in terms of content and organization.
